CORWEN born man Eric Peake has been appointed an MBE in the Queen’s Birthday Honours.

Mr Peake, aged 80, is a renowned painter of birds who has received the honour for services to Art and Ornithological Conservation.

Mr Peake said: “I never thought I would ever get anything like this. I have done a lot of work in other countries, the US, Canada and Spain and have received various awards from different organisations.

“I think this is an accolade which is normally out of reach, I never thought I would get anything like this."

He added: “I am greatly honoured and very proud.”

Eric said his father’s family all came from Corwen, but soon after he was born in 1940 his father, an aircraft engineer, had to move to Saltney to help build for the war effort.

Eric originally trained as a teacher but realised his real love was painting and ornithology. His interest in birds stared at the age of seven and he discovered and developed a talent for drawing and painting. To date he has painted more than 1,700 highly detailed watercolour paintings of birds.

Studying from the collection of birds at Chester Zoo, England and Loro Parque, Tenerife, Spain, as well as private bird collections, Eric became more aware of the importance of conservation and research. He has raised more than £300,000 from his work for various international projects.

Donations of his art work have supported organisations such as The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, UK; Parrot Fund International and many other wildlife and other charities. He has exhibited in numerous galleries as far afield as Llangefni and Florida and Penrhyn Castle near Bangor and Los Angeles.

Since 1984 he has specialised in painting parrots and has concentrated his work in that area ever since. He is a founding member and past trustee of Parrot Fund International where 100 per cent of funds go directly to help the birds. He is a past board member of The Gabriel Foundation, Colorado, a founding member of Nature in Art, Wallsworth Hall, Gloucester, and the National Exhibition of Wildlife Art, UK. He is a member of the North Wales Fine Art Society.